HAYWARD — A man who shot and killed his 20-year-old girlfriend one day after leaving his wife and kids to move in with the girlfriend has been sentenced to 15 years in state prison through a plea deal, records show.
Dustin Ratliff, 42, was originally charged with murdering Rachelle Gouailhardou, but through a deal with Alameda County prosecutors, Ratliff pleaded no contest to a voluntary manslaughter charge and was sentenced to 15 years in state prison, court records show.
Ratliff was transferred to North Kern State Prison on Oct. 11, and remains housed there for now, prison records show.
At Ratliff’s sentencing hearing last August, he insisted the fatal shooting was all an accident and said he wished he could prove that to Gouailhardou’s family. The several friends and family members of Gouailhardou who spoke at the hearing didn’t seem interested in his version of events.
“She was my daughter and I loved her with all my heart,” Mary Gouailhardou, Rachelle’s mother, said at the hearing. “You showed no mercy or compassion toward my daughter, period. You could have just walked away at any time, but you choose to end my daughter’s life … out of your anger and rage.”
Rachelle Gouailhardou’s father, Mark Gouailhardou, said that the day before his daughter was killed, she showed him pictures of Ratliff with his family — the very family he was leaving to be with Rachelle — as proof that Ratliff was a “good family man.” The next day he moved into Gouailhardou family home in Hayward.
“That was as far as the vetting process went,” Mark Gouailhardou said at the hearing. “Now, much to my chagrin and regret and what did you do? You shot my daughter, Rachelle, for whatever reason. What did she do to you? Nothing that you say will make me understand or forgive.”
Gouailhardou noted his daughter’s life was cut short at 20 and regarding the plea deal he said, “I don’t call that justice.”
When it was his turn to speak, Ratliff said his remorse from the homicide “eats at me spiritually, emotionally and physically every day.”
“I truly hated myself for a couple years and I don’t know how to forgive myself for such neglectful behavior. This sudden loss of Rachelle, a daughter, sister, good friend was devastating to so many people,” Ratliff said, later adding that he thought “not being able to let you know what actually happened seems to be another injustice in itself.”
Gouailhardou was shot and killed on June 5, 2021, in a residence on Trevor Avenue in Hayward. Prosecutors said at Ratliff’s 2023 preliminary hearing that police were able to obtain a video that depicted the couple arguing just moments before the shooting.
In the video, Ratliff tells Gouailhardou: “I’m not a clown, bro. Try clowning me, bro, you done.” Shortly thereafter, he said “I’ll make you kill yourself in 20 seconds,” according to the footage.
“Saying those things and then nearly immediately after shooting Rachelle, I think goes to malice aforethought,” Deputy District Attorney Rob Mohen said at the preliminary hearing, where Ratliff was held to answer on the murder charge.
Ratliff’s lawyer argued at the hearing that the “clown” comments and other seemingly menacing comments were actually just “banter” and not evidence of Ratliff’s intent to kill.
“I think the evidence points to the fact that this was an accidental shooting,” the defense lawyer, Elliot Silver, said at the hearing.